Love in a Nutshell

I think this would have been a 1 star kind of book if not for the redeeming factor of the h/h not having sex during the course of the book. It's nice to see that expressing sexual desires/needs isn't always YES MORE NOW I DIE WITHOUT IT. Otherwise, this title had too many problems.

If you've ever read one of Janet Evanovich's "romances" you'll know what you're getting with this one: light, fun, sweet with moments of madcap.

Kate has moved back to Keene's Harbour after her divorce with a plan to refurbish her parents summer house and open a B&B. In order to fund the renovations, she takes a job at the local microbrewery, working undercover to figure out who is sabotaging the owner, gorgeous and single Matt Culhane. The same man who owns the mortgage on her dream B&B.

As long as you don't look too deeply at plotting details or expect too much depth, you'll find a breezy, quick read. Jennifer Crusie is the undisputed queen of this particular genre, but this would not be a wasted check-out from the library.

Kate is recently divorced and unemployed, so she decides to move back to her parents summer home and turn it into a bed and breakfast. The house is in worse shape than she realized so it’s going to take more money than she thought and that requires a job. The only one she can land is for Matt Culhane at the local brewery. Someone has been sabotaging his company and he needs someone to check out his employees. If Kate can uncover the saboteur he will pay her a $20,000 bonus. Kate quickly runs into problems along the way, she’s allergic to beer, time is running out on the mortgage, and the biggest problem is she’s falling for Matt.

This was a light combination of romance and mystery that made for a fun read. Don't expect much depth show more or particularly memorable characters. That being said, the cast is full of quirky characters and zany situations, several of which made me laugh out loud. show less

This is the first non-Stephanie Plum book for Evanovich that I've read and first one completely for Dorien Kelly so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was, however, very afraid after reading the summary that Love in a Nutshell's heroine would be a watered down version of my beloved Stephanie since they seemed awful similar. I'm so glad that this wasn't the case; Stephanie and Kate Appleton do share some qualities but Kate is definitely her own girl.

I adored Kate and Matt. They both had a wonderful sense of humor that was never too over the top or silly and always managed to keep me amused. Humor is such a difficult thing to include because not everyone finds the same things to be funny. I'm very picky when it comes to comedy. I show more dislike 'stupid' humor and anything that seems to try too hard doesn't work well for me either. Their voices had an absolutely perfect middle ground for me. It was seemingly effortless and encompassed a wide variety of humor.

I have no idea how Evanovich and Kelly went about writing this novel but everything flowed amazingly. The book switches between Kate and Matt's point of view. With two authors and two point of views I was expecting some choppiness but I never ran in to any.

Many of the twists and reveals were predictable but I didn't find that ruined the fun. I usually like being kept in the dark and being just as surprised as the characters. For Love in a Nutshell I found the predictability to be sort of homey and reassuring. That's not really the best way to describe it but the book is set in a small town where everyone knows each other and it was a sweet, funny romance. I felt that being predictable built on that rather than made it boring.

My only disappointment with Love in a Nutshell was with its ending. I liked the ending but it wasn't satisfying. I felt like there was at least an epilogue or another chapter that I was missing. It went from the climax of the story to another page or two then 'The End'. As a romance the book should have had just a little more to it than what was given in my opinion.

Review originally posted on my blog, Bitten Books: http://www.bittenbooks.com/2012/01/review-love-in-nutshell-by-janet.html show less

I've read Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and like them well enough. The library was selling two audiobooks from this series (which is not related to the Stephanie Plum series). Beware though. The same narrator is used for both series's audiobooks--I can't tell you how many times I'd associate a voice with a Stephanie Plum series character and have to remind myself that that character isn't part of this series (Culhane Family).

So . . . on to the title. When we say "in a nutshell" I associate it with simplifying or shortening. This book also has a cabin called "the Nutshell" in which one of the two main characters lives--and of course, the two main characters end up in love with each other.

I do agree with many of the plot holes I see show more other reviewers mentioning.
*There's no real reason that Matt needs to hire Kate to find the saboteur. Security cameras would have been cheaper, safer, and faster. I can't help but think if he hadn't been attracted to her, all bets would have been off.
*The mortgage is never explained. If this cabin has been in their family for years . . . why has the mortgage not been paid off?
*How does Kate plan to make a cabin into a B&B? Does she ever say how many rooms she plans to have to rent out? Is it just going to be an airBNB/VRBO type rental for one group at a time? (That's not a B&B to me.) She's got no money, knows it needs repairs (apparently before even she can stay in it), and her plan is to open it as a B&B? Probably not a good business plan.
*I understand loving a pet, but for the life of me, I can't see why Stella. She seems an ill-tempered dog who mostly growls and after a brief loving reunion, is ignored by Kate who is hiding in her bedroom or the bathroom to escape her parents.

I too grew tired of the will-they-or-won't-they push and pull of the plot. show less

I am sad that there are only two books in this series.

This was a fun start to this series. I love that he cottage is called Nutshell and I want to go stay there. Kate and Matt are cute as they try and solve the mystery of the sabotage while simultaneously ignoring their mutual feelings for each other.

Looking forward to listening to The husband List next.

Love in a Nutshell

This is a sweet, light hearted and very wholesome romance/mystery and a very quick read.

Kate has just been fired from a bartending job, something she had to take to earn some money while she is trying to fix up her parents old B&B on Lake Michigan. She stomps off to confront the person she thinks s responsible for her job loss and meets Matt Culhane, who just happens to hold the mortgage that Kate is trying so hard to pay back Of course that mortgage is so far past due that Matt is ready to foreclose.

But Matt has been having some troubles of his own and decides that Kate would be the perfect person to ‘spy’ for him. There has been a rash of vandalisms at his micro-brewery/restaurant..

As the vandalism escalates Matt show more decides that Kate is the one for him, and despite her reticence with men since her very nasty divorce she starts having feelings for Matt too. Can she get beyond the fact that he is holding her mortgage and wants to turn her property into a restaurant?

This novel has an interesting story line and a mystery that had me going trying to figure it out. The writing team of Evanovich and Kelly threw in a very plausible red herring and I bit like a hungry grouper! The characters are very likeable, to the point that I would love to be friends with them. The writing is nice and tight, the story holds ones interest and even the secondary characters are enjoyable.

I truly liked this book a lot, and I hope that these two collaborate again in the future. show less